Abed Baydaa Ahmed, Khazaal Fatima, Mohammed Noor Ulhuda G, Farhan Layla Othman, Salman Isam Noori
National Diabetes Center, Mustansiriyah University, Baghdad, Iraq.
Department of Studies and Planning, the University Presidency, Mustansiriyah University, Baghdad, Iraq.
Ir J Med Sci. 2025 Jun 24. doi: 10.1007/s11845-025-03977-6.
Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is due to the autoimmune destruction of pancreatic β-cells. Biomarkers of early diagnosis of T1DM are important to improve treatment and prevent complications. β-catenin, a key effector of the WNT signaling pathway, plays a critical role in the development of pancreatic β-cells. This study investigates the association between serum β-catenin protein and T1DM and evaluates its diagnostic performance compared to routine markers.
The study included 50 patients with T1DM aged 15-25 years and 30 healthy age- and gender-matched subjects (HS). All participants were evaluated with full history taking, thorough clinical examination, and laboratory evaluation of biochemical tests and glycemic markers. Serum β-catenin was measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
There were significant differences in the concentration of β-catenin between T1DM and HS (P < 0.001). Gender, HbA1c, BU, and lipid profile were found to be significantly independently related to β-catenin levels (P < 0.05). β-catenin showed excellent discriminatory ability (AUC 1.0); the results revealed that the best cut-off value of β-catenin levels to predict T1DM was > 1.81 ng/ml.
The results show that the concentration of β-catenin has the potential to diagnose T1DM. Further, larger studies are needed on whether β-catenin has a therapeutic role in T1DM.
1型糖尿病（T1DM）是由于胰腺β细胞的自身免疫性破坏所致。T1DM早期诊断的生物标志物对于改善治疗和预防并发症至关重要。β-连环蛋白是WNT信号通路的关键效应因子，在胰腺β细胞的发育中起关键作用。本研究调查血清β-连环蛋白与T1DM之间的关联，并评估其与常规标志物相比的诊断性能。
该研究纳入了50例年龄在15至25岁之间的T1DM患者和30名年龄及性别匹配的健康受试者（HS）。所有参与者均进行了全面的病史采集、详细的临床检查以及生化检测和血糖标志物的实验室评估。使用酶联免疫吸附测定法测量血清β-连环蛋白。
T1DM患者与HS之间β-连环蛋白浓度存在显著差异（P < 0.001）。发现性别、糖化血红蛋白（HbA1c）、尿素（BU）和血脂谱与β-连环蛋白水平显著独立相关（P < 0.05）。β-连环蛋白显示出优异的鉴别能力（曲线下面积[AUC]为1.0）；结果表明，预测T1DM的β-连环蛋白水平最佳截断值> 1.81 ng/ml。
结果表明，β-连环蛋白浓度具有诊断T1DM的潜力。此外，关于β-连环蛋白在T1DM中是否具有治疗作用，还需要进行更大规模的研究。
